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CHAPTER FORTY NINE
right where you left me
THE GLUE WAS sticking his fingers together as James fiddled with the arms and legs of the smashed quidditch figurines. All of Peter's were piled on his bed as he tried to make sense of the various limps, ends of brooms and tails of robes. The delicate green gloves and fingers slowly made their way back together as he held them together with the muggle glue that he'd borrowed from Lily. A bluster of air disturbed the peace, followed by chipped black nails and a pristine cloak.
"You know you can just put it back together with magic, mate," Sirius chuckled as he strode over to James's bed and loomed over him, blocking part of the light that allowed James to see the particularities of the cracks. The grooves that fit together. James hissed and swatted at him, making Sirius move over.
"I know, but mum would be horrified if she saw what I did. Bought Peter all new ones anyway, but . . . you know wanted to put in the work to fix it."
Sirius's eyes stayed on him heavily as his eyes debated his next move. "Sounds like something Betty would do."
James stopped cold, his entire body freezing up with the crisp air that threatened them outside. He looked to his quilts for something to say but could only manage: "you know her better than me."
Sirius hummed as he rounded the other side of the bed and sat down on the edge, looking at the rings on his fingers. "Maybe. But you know other parts of her better than me, don't you?"
James scrunched up his nose. "I'm not talking about that with you, mate, that's gross. She deserves her privacy."
Sirius looked up at James with a wondrous yet curled smiled. "Not what I was referring to, but glad to know that you now feel that way."
James huffed and refused to look at him as he put the pieces of the figurines back together again. The door opened again, and a shorter figure entered, bumbling. Peter rifled through his book bag as he stumbled in, stuffing in an essay amongst the mess of them from throughout the year. He searched around more and found a half-written scroll that was addressed to his mother. He looked up to see James and Sirius sitting; his eyes snapped down the the broken figurines.
"You really don't have to do all that James. You've already gotten me new ones." Peter offered a kind smile as he walked over. His book bag thudded on the ground loudly as he inspected James's work. "Besides, you could've used magic."
James huffed. "It's the principle of the matter," he grumbled. Peter and Sirius made eye contact as neither of them moved. James continued working, ignoring the two boys looming over him. He could feel them mouthing whole sentences to each other above them and kept his head ducked as he felt something inside of him simmering. In a huff, he threw down one of the figurines, causing the end of a broom to disconnect once more. "I'm not a ruddy child. You don't have to whisper or mouth words out. What's going on?" Sirius and Peter made eye contact once more, their eyes warning, daring and warming between each other. James looked between them and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I started the whole secrets thing when my thing with Betty started. But that's over now and I'm never going to get it back. So, could we please go back to how we were? I'll never snog someone again, I swear."
